Morocco’s family structure has shifted decisively toward smaller households, with nuclear families now the dominant model, according to findings from a survey published by the High Commission for Planning (HCP).
Nuclear families accounted for 73% of Moroccan households in 2025, up from 60.8% in the first edition of the survey in 1995, according to the document.
Over the same period, extended families, where several generations live together, declined to 19.8% from 35.2%, the data show.
Average household size fell to 3.9 people in 2024 from 4.6 in 2014, according to the HCP.
Meanwhile, the number of households is growing nearly three times faster than the population, a trend that weights on the housing market.
Marriage rates are also declining, largely for economic reasons, the survey found. More than 51% or half of single Moroccans say they do not wish to marry, rising to 59.8% among men.
The average age at first marriage now exceeds 26 for women and 33 for men. Morocco’s fertility rate stands at 1.98 children per woman, below the demographic replacement level of 2.1, according to the HCP.
At age 35, 16.5% of Moroccans still live with their parents and have not formed an independent household, the survey shows.
The share of people aged 60 and over rose to 13.8% in 2025 from 9.4% a decade earlier, a growth rate five times faster than that of the population as a whole.
Single parenthood affects 18.2% of divorced individuals overall, but disproportionately women, at 22.1% compared with 10.1% for men, according to the survey. More than two-thirds of divorced women say their alimony does not cover their needs, while 83.5% say child support is insufficient. Among single mothers, the figure rises to 94.4%.
Despite these pressures, the family remains a key provider of social protection. Nearly 58.7% of unemployed people report receiving financial assistance from another household member, and 59.3% of older people still live with their children, according to ENF 2025.
